Shopkeeper fined for food hygiene offences

A Whitley shopkeeper has been fined £400 after being prosecuted for the second time for food hygiene offences.

Dinkar Patel, who owns Jay Convenience Store in Whitley Wood Lane, admitted four charges at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday last week and was fined £100 for each offence. He was also ordered to pay £922 costs.

Reading Borough Council staff found a thick build up of dirt, debris and cobwebs under shelves and in the storeroom.

Patel was charged with offences including failure to have a food safety management system and failure to ensure the premises were clean and in good repair.

He was fined £500 and ordered to pay £1,873 costs for similar offences at his DJ One Stop store in Briant’s Avenue, Caversham, in 2009.